What is Surrealism in literature?

Surrealist literature employs automatic writing, dreamlike narratives, and irrational imagery to access the unconscious mind. Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault pioneered the movement with ‘The Magnetic Fields’ (1920), written using automatic techniques that bypassed conscious editing. Surrealist poets like Paul Eluard, Robert Desnos, and Benjamin Peret created verse from free association and dream transcription. The movement influenced subsequent writers from the Beat Generation to magical realism authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Surrealist literary techniques including stream of consciousness, non-linear narrative, and symbolic imagery continue shaping experimental fiction and poetry worldwide.